Rebuilding Lives: Regional Solutions to Displacement in the Western Balkans

This report stems from a roundtable meeting held at IPI Vienna in May and featured representatives from the governments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia, who in 2011 produced a regional accord to address the lingering problem of displacement nearly 20 years after the Balkan wars precipitated a crisis of refugees and IDPs.

The report describes the process through which the governments came to a regional solution to the problem of displacement and it delineates 16 “factors of success.” These include the draw of the EU, the efforts of the UNHCR personal envoy, and a needs-based approach that put the interests of the people first.

The report also includes an Annex that reproduces three key documents from the negotiation process, including the 2011 “Joint Declaration on Ending Displacement and Ensuring Durable Solutions to Vulnerable Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons.”

The meeting was co-sponsored by the government of Switzerland and UNHCR.